


She Shall, From Time to Time, Disobey

by pipisafoat



Series: Abby Lyman [14]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Dogs, Gen, Service Collie, Service Dogs, intelligent disobedience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 06:46:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14467227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipisafoat/pseuds/pipisafoat
Summary: Abby disobeys from time to time ... but is that really a bad thing?





	She Shall, From Time to Time, Disobey

**Author's Note:**

> Content notes: Explicit description of PTSD symptoms manifesting as anger, mild self-harm, and anxiety
> 
> see end notes for service dog education & a personal note from the author
> 
> honestly i’m not happy with this fic, some glaring issues i haven’t fixed and just things that make me discontent, but you people like anything haha and i needed some vessel for delivering my personal note so you got this.

“And anyway, Josh, I’m sure you can understand that with all of those priorities, I simply cannot take the time to push your bill through the Senate,” Peter Miller says, leaning back in his chair in Josh’s office. 

“Despite promising not even a week ago that you would.”

Miller shrugs dramatically, arms spread wide. “It’s unfortunate, but I have to do what I have to do.”

God. Are all Senators backstabbing idiots? It’s really starting to look like it to Josh. He drops his hands to his lap and fiddles with the pen out of sight, well aware that Abby is tracking his every move and probably on the verge of an anxiety alert but hoping to avoid it in front of his newest least favorite Democrat Senator. 

“Oh, come on, Josh, don’t look at me like that,” Miller says with a definite whine in his voice. “It’s just not a priority for my constituents, and I have to follow their wishes if I want to be re-elected.”

He suppresses a growl and slams his fist on his thigh under the table. “Your consti—“ He breaks off suddenly as Abby leaps from bed to his side. One paw rises to swat at his hand. Self harm interruption? For one punch to the thigh? “Free, mat,” he commands her in rapid succession under his breath. It doesn’t matter who he’s around; nobody who isn’t senior staff or his mother knows Abby’s commands, and he’s damn well going to keep it that way. 

Abby trots back to her bed and settles with her eyes still trained on Josh. It isn’t until he lifts his fist that he realizes there’s a small hole in his pants now and a small black ink stain on his pants that will probably have a bruise around it tomorrow - it wasn’t punching so much as the accidental stabbing she was alerting to. Oops. “Your constituents are for this issue. You can push this bill through without backlash.”

Miller snaps his gaze away from Abby. “I can vote for it, but I need to push their priorities more.”

“This was half a point away from your arbitrary ‘priorities’ cutoff!” Josh exclaims, careful not to raise his voice. Miller caused them no small amount of trouble the last time Josh had gotten loud. 

“And that half point means it is not a priority,” Miller shoots back. 

Josh raises a hand to his head and scrubs it through his hair, latching on in the back and pulling hard instead of yelling. Abby flies to his side again and paws at his hand until he drops it to his lap. Miller stares openly again, and Josh forces a growl back down. 

“How would your constituents feel about the fact that you’re going back on your word on this bill?”

Miller locks eyes with Josh and laughs, an ugly sound. “How would they find out? They’re intelligent people who demand proof and distrust the White House, after all.”

Josh’s hand only gets as far as the back of his head before Abby is back, left paw on his shoulder and right batting at his right hand. “Leave it,” he snaps, dropping his hand back to his desk. That’s a common enough command that he figures Miller can’t do any real damage with it. “Just leave it, Abby. Senator, your constitu—“

A knock on the door interrupts him, and he clenches his fist again. He’s acutely aware of Abby staring at him from her seat on the floor beside his chair as the door swings open. “Senator, I apologize for the interruption. Josh—“ Donna breaks off as Abby knocks Josh’s hand out of the air. 

“Leave. It,” he spits at the dog. “Donna, what happened to no interruptions?”

“Leo wants you in the situation room.”

Abby uses her paw to block Josh’s hand once again, and he sees red. He opens his mouth to rail at his service dog, but her calm, innocent gaze derails his thoughts. He turns toward Donna, but her eyes are huge and worried, caring, and she did make the right call to interrupt this meeting for the situation room. He doesn’t even look at the Senator; yelling at him won’t gain his support for the President’s initiative. There’s only one person in the room he can get angry at, and that’s himself. No sooner has the thought registered as a half-formed concept than Abby has both front paws on his right shoulder, nose shoved firmly into his ear.

“Senator Miller, I apologize for the disruption to your meeting. If you’ll allow me to show you out now, I’ll be in touch with Janet to reschedule the rest of the meeting as soon as I know Josh’s schedule, likely later this afternoon,” Josh hears dimly, followed by a chair scraping and footsteps leaving the room. As soon as the door clicks shut, he shoves Abby away.

“I get it,” he spits. “Get your leash.” He controls himself carefully as he walks with his service dog down to the situation room, but he feels his steps stutter just before the guard reaches for the handle of the door. Abby nudges his leg with her nose, and Josh makes eye contact with the guard, shakes his head, and drops to the floor. The dog immediately arranges herself across his outstretched legs.

It’s a few minutes of quiet deep pressure therapy, the guard looking considerately away, before Josh hears the door open and footsteps approach him. He glances up just in time to meet Leo’s concerned gaze. “I’m actually just about ready,” he tells his mentor quietly.

“Good,” Leo responds, offering a hand for Josh to pull himself up. “We can get Abby a chair beside you if that would help.”

**Author's Note:**

> Service dog education time! Abby is showing here what is called “intelligent disobedience” - note that Josh tells her multiple times to stop but she continues to alert. Many psychiatric service dogs are trained to prioritize doing their job over other commands for just this reason. Those of us with psych issues will often (unconsciously) try to sabotage ourselves by telling our dogs to stop helping us, so training them to prioritize alerts and tasks is a good way to further protect us from the worst symptoms of our illnesses.  
> My adult service dog struggles with this because he was 6 years old and very firmly trained in obedience before beginning service dog training. My 11 month old service dog in training, however, has been learning her service work side by side with obedience since she was 9 weeks old. She has always had her service work taught as the most important thing for her to do, so intelligent disobedience is much easier for her. Those are two true accounts that illustrate why service dogs, and psychiatric service dogs in particular, are most effective if trained from a very, very young age.  
> Questions? Just ask! This series is intended to be equal parts a fun read and an educational experience. I’m happy to answer service dog questions in general and about my specific dogs. Don’t want to ask in a comment? Email me at pipisafoat at gmail
> 
>  
> 
> personal note: my small service dog and i were assaulted last weekend. nobody is physically injured beyond bruises, but he is a psychological wreck. he had to go ahead and retire 6-12 months earlier than planned, and my service dog in training is now my only working dog (though still in training). he’s now on two anxiety meds, or would be if he’d come to me anymore. yeah, he’s that scarred that he won’t come to me, that he hides under the bed if he isn’t outside, that he screams at night. it’s not the first time he’s been attacked in the line of duty. not that i think anyone reading this needs the reminder, but DO NOT PHYSICALLY ASSAULT OR SHOUT ABUSE AT SERVICE DOGS. the person who did this physically injured me (bruises when we tried to run away), psychologically injured me, physically injured my son / my medical equipment / a helpless dog, and psychologically injured the same. now i’m permanently without my first partner and temporarily without a fully trained partner, and that has some major visible and invisible (and financial!) effects on me. DO. NOT. ASSAULT. SERVICE. DOGS.
> 
> so there’s the attack, winky’s trouble adjusting after the attack, my own adjusting after the attack, riley’s first heat coinciding with the time i need her to step up to full time work, the dire financial straits of all of the above plus helping a new roommate way more than is healthy for me but i can’t say no, wrenching my neck, struggling hard with a sewing order i’m trying to fulfill, and then today? today. a dog bit me in the face, i spent thousands of dollars that i don’t have in the er because i don’t want to die of tetanus or rabies and it’s the weekend, had to go to the police station (and i have a massive and only somewhat irrational fear of cops) only they’re closed on the weekend so i had to call them instead and talk to them on the phone (another big fear!), and now i’m waiting for another call from a blocked number (yet another fear!) for results of rabies test (who isn’t afraid of that?), and meanwhile? the dog? belongs to neighbors that i LIKE and don’t want to cause trouble for (them or him), and it wasn’t even his fault that he got me this time versus the billion other times he’s tried - i tripped on a rock and caught myself on the fence and that’s what brought my face low enough for him to catch. 
> 
> it’s been a hell of a week that isn’t over until at least monday, only i still have winky’s anxiety to fight with and that’s a full time job, plus stepping up riley’s training as fast as she can tolerate without burnout, plus i have to get this sewing thing right ... it might be a while before i can update this. feel free to follow my dogs on instagram if you want some updates: servicesibs is their account. & feel free to poke me here at any time, but my kids have to take priority through their difficulties for now.


End file.
